July was filled with ups, downs and plenty of music.
First of all, the summer festival season is in full swing, as evidenced by so many of our favorite photos of the month — from Joni Mitchell‘s once-in-a-lifetime Joni Jam at the Newport Folk Festival to NOS Alive in Lisbon, Portugal, which featured performances by Florence + the Machine, HAIM and more.
The 2022 Essence of Culture Festival also took over the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans with sets by Ashanti, Nas, Ms. Lauryn Hill and others. And Metallica, J-Hope, Dua Lipa and J. Cole were among the headliners at Chicago’s Grant Park for Lollapalooza 2022.
The month was hardly dedicated singularly to festivals, though, as several artists embarked on headlining tours of their own. Lady Gaga launched her long-awaited Chromatica Ball with shows in Dusseldorf, Germany, and Stockholm, Sweden, and Rosalía kicked off her global tour in support of Motomami with an opening show at Recinto Ferial de Almeria in Almeria, Spain. Machine Gun Kelly, meanwhile, continued his own Mainstream Sellout trek with assists from Avril Lavigne, Travis Barker, Iann Dior and more.
Rod Stewart performed at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville as part of his ongoing tour featuring special guests Cheap Trick, and The Chicks took over Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York, to finally play their hit 2020 album Gaslighter live for fans.
Click through Billboard‘s favorite photos from throughout the month of July below.
